Kaleidoscope
Faintly Blowing - Fontana 1969
Tracks: 1. Faintly Blowing / 2. Poem / 3. Snapdragon / 4. Story from Tom Bitz / 5. (Love Song) for Annie / 6. If You So Wish / 7. Opinion / 8. Bless the Executioner / 9. Black Fjord / 10. Feathered Tiger / 11. I'll Kiss You Once / 12. Music / 13. Do It Again For Jeffrey* / 14. Poem" (Single Version)* / 15. Balloon* / 16. If You So Wish* / 17. Let the World Wash In* / 18. Mediaeval Masquerade*
Comments:
Kaleidoscope is just one of countless groups that never achieved the recognition and success of its contemporary that it could rightly deserve. This, however, has been corrected since as the group debut album "Tangerine Dream" from 1967 has gained status as one of the most interesting pop-psych albums in the late 1960s.
The sequel "Faintly Blowing" from 1969 is also considered an important album, though not entirely on the same level. The album contains many nice songs, both melodically and in arrangement, challenging the time's somewhat strict formulas in pop-rock.
No singles were released from the album, which might have been a good idea, as both "Faintly Blowing", "Snapdragon" and "If You So Wish" have the melody and originality to perform on the charts of the day.
Three contemporary singles have been added as bonus tracks, and of these I find the "Let the World Wash in" written for the Isle of Wight festival 1970, clearly most interesting.
Compared to the "Tangerine Dream", there are probably more "anonymous" songs on "Faintly Blowing", and the genre as such may already been a bit of a return in 1969, where the more blues-based progressive rock was on its way forward.
For fans of groups like The Move, Tomorrow, Creation etc. "Faintly Blowing" will definitely be an exciting acquaintance.
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